• Maturation of Christianity

• End of the Ancient World

• Emergence of Islam

From this point in the class foward, all dates are AD unless specified otherwise.

• Son of Constantius I, one of the tetrarchs, and a successful military commander
• Reigned as Emperor Constantine I ("the Great"), 306-337
  • Reunited the empire after the tetrarchy
  • Edict of Milan in 313 established religious tolerance for Christianity
  • Established "New Rome," better known as Constantinople, in 324
  • Convened the Council of Nicaea in 325
  • Only baptized on his deathbed
• On his death, divided the empire between his sons

While he was thus praying with fervent entreaty, a most marvelous sign appeared to Constantine from heaven, the account of which it might have been hard to believe had it been related by any other person. But since the victorious emperor himself long afterwards declared it to the writer of this history, when he was honored with his acquaintance and society, and confirmed his statement by an oath, who could hesitate to accredit the relation, especially since the testimony of after-time has established its truth? He said that about noon, when the day was already beginning to decline, he saw with his own eyes the trophy of a cross of light in the heavens, above the sun, and bearing the inscription, CONQUER BY THIS. At this sight he himself was struck with amazement, and his whole army also, which followed him on this expedition, and witnessed the miracle.

He said, moreover, that he doubted within himself what the import of this apparition could be. And while he continued to ponder and reason on its meaning, night suddenly came on ; then in his sleep the Christ of God appeared to him with the same sign which he had seen in the heavens, and commanded him to make a likeness of that sign which he had seen in the heavens, and to use it as a safeguard in all engagements with his enemies.

From Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History, 28-30. https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/Halsall/source/conv-const.asp

Copper follis of Constantine I, 355-357. Obverse: bust of the emperor, CONSTANTI-NVS MAX AVG. Reverse: soldiers flanking a standard with Chi-Rho on banner, GLOR-IA EXERC-ITVS ("Glory to the Army").

• Emperor Julian "the Apostate", 360-363
  • A nephew of Constantine I and last emperor of that dynasty
  • Raised a Christian, but renounced his faith ("apostatized") and embraced Neo-Platonic philosophy
  • Wrote a number of anti-Christian treatises which have been preserved. They shed light onto the interactions between Christians and non-Christians as the former religion was spreading across the Mediterranean world
  • Reunited the Roman Empire, but died leading an invasion of the Sassanian Empire. His successors restored Christianity's privileges.

THERE was a woman at Alexandria named Hypatia, daughter of the philosopher Theon, who made such attainments in literature and science, as to far surpass all the philosophers of her own time. Having succeeded to the school of Plato and Plotinus, she explained the principles of philosophy to her auditors, many of whom came from a distance to receive her instructions.

On account of the self-possession and ease of manner, which she had acquired in consequence of the cultivation of her mind, she not unfrequently appeared in public in presence of the magistrates. Neither did she feel abashed in coming to an assembly of men. For all men on account of her extraordinary dignity and virtue admired her the more. Yet even she fell a victim to the political jealousy which at that time prevailed.

For as she had frequent interviews with Orestes, it was calumniously reported among the Christian populace, that it was she who prevented Orestes from being reconciled to the bishop. Some of them therefore, hurried away by a fierce and bigoted zeal, whose ringleader was a reader named Peter, waylaid her returning home, and dragging her from her carriage, they took her to the church called Caesareum, where they completely stripped her, and then murdered her with tiles. After tearing her body in pieces, they took her mangled limbs to a place called Cinaron, and there burnt them. This affair brought not the least opprobrium, not only upon Cyril, but also upon the whole Alexandrian church. And surely nothing can be farther from the spirit of Christianity than the allowance of massacres, fights, and transactions of that sort. This happened in the month of March during Lent, in the fourth year of Cyril's episcopate, under the tenth consulate of Honorius, and the sixth of Theodosius.

Socrates Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History, VI.15

• Early Christianity was highly decentralized
• Local synods and councils had occurred in earlier centuries, but Constantine was the first to call an Ecumenical Council (a meeting of representatives of all the churches in the inhabited world, called the oikoumene in Greek)
  • Councils met to debate contemporary theological questions
  • He set the precedent where the Roman emperor had the authority to call the councils and preside over them
  • "Losing" side rarely disappeared right away, often formed independent churches with significant regional support
• Origins of Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Churches

• First Council of Nicaea, 325
  • Opponents: Arianins
• First Council of Constantinople, 381
• First Council of Ephesus, 431
  • Opponents: Nestorians
• Council of Chalcedon, 451
  • Repudiated the Second Council of Ephesus, 449, as a "Robber Council"
  • Opponents: Coptic and (some) Syriac Churches
• Second Council of Constantinople, 533
• Third Council of Constantinople, 680-681
• Second Council of Nicaea, 787

• The Roman Empire was divided a final time into Eastern and Western halves after the death of Theodosius I in 395
  • The East had always been richer and more populous than the West
• Both halves experienced military invasions in the C4 and C5
  • The Eastern Empire was able to defend itself and its capital (Constantinople)
  • The Western Empire suffered major territorial losses and could not defend its capitals (Trier, Milan, and Ravenna) or major cities

The Roman Empire in 395 after the death of Theodosius I

• The western emperors were weak, real power often exercised by the powerful magister militum, generals (often of "barbarian" descent) who became de facto leaders of the Roman Empire
• Major events
  • 405/6 Germanic Franks cross the Rhine in force, settling in Gaul
  • 410 Rome sacked by Goths under Alaric
  • 439 Vandals capture Carthage
  • 451 Huns under Attilla defeated at Battle of the Catalaunian Plains by an allied army led by the Roman magister militum Aetius
  • 476 Odoacer deposed the last emperor, declared himself king, and returned the imperial insignia to Constatninople

• New "Barbarian" kingdoms fused Roman and non-Roman elites, heritage
  • Latin remained the language of government, law, property, and the church. "Vulgar Latin" still very similar across western Mediterranean
  • Sophisticated legal systems combined Roman and Germanic legal traditions
  • Most quickly converted to Christianity, though not always the Imperial Church
  • Cities, never as large nor as prosperous as those in the east, declined further. New complexes arose around the villas of aristocratic families and the holdings of the Church

• Recodified Roman Law (Corpus Iuris Civilis)
• Patronized major infrastructure investments across the empire: Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (built 532-537); San Vitale in Ravenna (built 527-548)
• Reconquered North Africa, Italy, and portions of southern Spain, areas which would remain part of the empire for centuries
• Church reforms (Second Council of Constantinople, 553)
• Started the first of a series of wars with the Sassanians that would eventually ruin both empires
• First Boubonic Plague ("Plague of Justinian") recurred regularly from 541 until 750
  • significantly weakened all states around the Mediterranean, reducing populations and revenue

[The Church] is distinguished by indescribable beauty, excelling both in its size, and in the harmony of its measures, having no part excessive and none deficient; being more magnificent than ordinary buildings, and much more elegant than those which are not of so just a proportion. The church is singularly full of light and sunshine; you would declare that the place is not lighted by the sun from without, but that the rays are produced within itself, such an abundance of light is poured into this church.

Procopius, De Aedificis, tr. Lethabv and Swainson.

The Hagia Sophia, completed in 537, the largest cathedral in the world until 1520.

The modern interior of the Hagia Sophia. While many late antique and medieval mosaics are visible, several are covered up by the wooden islamic roundels

The basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, built 527-548. Ravenna was the capital of the Western Roman Empire, Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy, and the seat of the Eastern Roman Exarch of Italy

• The Last Roman-Persian War lasted 602-628
  • The Romans were wracked by a series of coups and rebellions
  • Persians captured Syria in 611, sacked Jerusalem in 614, and by 619 conquered Egypt. Constantinople was attacked twice in the 620s
  • Emperor Heraclius (610-641) led an attack on the Persian capital, winning a decisive victory at the Battle of Nineveh in 627
  • Negotiated peace restored the status quo ante bellum
  • Heraclius, having won an explicitly religious war, restored the True Cross to Jerusalem on Easter 630

Tthe evil Persians, who had no pity in their hearts, raced to every place in the city and with one accord extirpated all the people. Any that were caught armed were massacred with their own weapons. Those who ran swiftly were pierced with arrows, the unresisting and quiet they slew without mercy. They listened not to the appeals of supplicants, nor pitied youthful beuty nor had compassion on old men's age, nor blushed before the humility of the clergy. On the contrary they destroyed persons of every age, massacred them like animals, cut them into pieces, mowed sundry of them down like cabbages, so that all alike had severally to drain the cup full of bitterness. Lamentation and terror might be seen in Jerusale. Holy churches were burned with fire, other were demolished, majestic altars fell prone, sacred crosses were trampled underfoot, life-giving icons were spat upon by the unclean. Then their wrath fell upon priests and deacons; they slew them in their churches like dumb animals.

Antiochus Strategos, The Sack of Jerusalem (614), tr. Conybeare

• The last Roman-Sassanid war formed the background to the life and ministry of the prophet Muhammad (c. 570-632)
• Arabia was an important neighbouring region to the ancient empires, a trading partner and region for imperial competition
• Muhhamad was influenced by contemporary Jewish and Christian monks, teachers, and ascetics, and began teaching in 610
  • He initially faced serious opposition. He and his followers were driven from Mecca to Medina in 622 (the Hijra)
  • Muhammed united Arabia through conversions and conquest, returning triumphantly to Mecca in 630 and establishing it, rather than Jerusalem, as the center of the new faith

• The Rashidun ("rightly-guided") Caliphs oversaw the conquest of the Levant and Egypt from the Romans by 641, and the conquest of the Sassanian Empire by 651.
  • The Eastern Roman Empire survived, but was reduced to Anatolia, the Balkans, and Italy
• After the Second Fitna, the caliphate was ruled dynastically, first by the Umayyad caliphs (661-750), who added North Africa and Spain to the dar al-islam
  • The Umayyads attacked Constantinople thrice, each time failing; the last time Constantinople was threatened for over half a millennium
• Muslims were a tiny minority in most of the new massive empire. Christians and Jews were treated as peoples of the book, although in practece they often faced persecution

Map showing the extent of the Caliphate and the diminished territories of the Eastern Roman Empire by 750

In the name of God, the Merciful and Compassionate. This is a letter to the servant of God Umar [ibn al-Khattab], Commander of the Faithful, from the Christians of such-and-such a city. When you came against us, we asked you for safe-conduct (aman) for ourselves, our descendants, our property, and the people of our community, and we undertook the following obligations toward you:

We shall not manifest our religion publicly nor convert anyone to it. We shall not prevent any of our kin from entering Islam if they wish it.

We shall show respect toward the Muslims, and we shall rise from our seats when they wish to sit.

We shall not engrave Arabic inscriptions on our seals.

We shall not sell fermented drinks.

We shall not take slaves who have beenallotted to Muslims.

We shall not build houses overtopping the houses of the Muslims.

Umar ibn al-Khittab replied: Sign what they ask, but add two clauses and impose them in addition to those which they have undertaken. They are: "They shall not buy anyone made prisoner by the Muslims," and "Whoever strikes a Muslim with deliberate intent shall forfeit the protection of this pact."

from Al-Turtushi, Siraj al-Muluk, pp. 229-230.

• Primary
  • Augustine, Confessions, City of God
  • Athanasius, Life of St. Anthony
  • Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History
  • Procopius, Wars, Secret History
• Secondary
  • P. Brown, The World of Late Antiquity, AD 150-750. 1971.
  • H. Kennedy, The Great Arab Conquests. How the Spread of Islam Changed the World We Live In. 2007.
  • P. Sarris, Empires of Faith: The Fall of Rome to the Rise of Islam, 500-700. 2011.